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“One size fits all” approach to teaching language to deaf and hard of hearing students

The above statement generalizes the teaching approach to deaf and hard of hearing students. At the outset we may have to agree that each individual is unique, having unique individual needs. And deaf students are no exception.

There may be many factors, which we may have to consider in teaching the deaf and hard of hearing students: the degree of loss, the onset of loss, their family background and language they use in their homes. Before we begin a particular approach to teaching language some of the questions to be considered are:

- Student’s present proficiency in spoken language

- Student’s present proficiency in written English

- Student’s present proficiency in manual communication.

Once we consider the present level of performance, we may have to consider their strength.

- Will this student have the ability to learn language in a particular approach?

- What related services does this student need in order to teach language in a particular approach? For example, we cannot approach a deaf student orally, if his parents are deaf and use manual communication system at home.

Considering the unique nature of deafness, “One size fits all” approach is not suitable to teaching language to deaf and hard of hearing students. Each deaf and hard of hearing student has to be considered individually.

Effective teachers are more successful when their instructional strategies reflect an awareness of students’ individual needs Principal